I picked up this book (Catskill Hotels) in Phoenicia (NY) today for a last-minute Christmas present to give to my parents in Michigan. Spent some time surfing through it this evening. It contains some great photos and brief stories of some of the more famous hotels in the Catskill mountains, along with tidbits about the activities which went on during those hotels’ heydays… While digging up an image of the book cover at Amazon.com, I came across several other intersting books about the Catskills and the Borscht Belt days.
At one time, according to the Catskill Institute, there were more than a thousand hotels spread across the mountains of Greene, Ulster, Delaware, and Sullivan Counties. The Catskills were an exciting world full of pleasures to be enjoyed, with summer and winter activities characterized by entertainment, food, sports, card playing, and food again. Catskill Hotels, with a collection of some two hundred images, tells the story of this world, which began with AmericaÃs first resort hotel, the Catskill Mountain House, continued with places such as the world-famous GrossingerÃs, and can still be found today at KutsherÃs Country Club, the Mountain House at Lake Mohonk, and a few other hardy resorts.
Continue reading →
Main House – Aladdin Hotel – Woodbourne
I live on the edge of the old Borscht Belt region of the Catskills in New York. While Googling for some history of those earlier times today, I came across a nice description, partially included below. (also see Catskill Great Hotels
Borscht Belt
The area of the New York Catskills called the Borscht Belt came into being at the turn of the twentieth century and grew in popularity through the 1970s. During summers and holidays, Jews–primarily of Eastern European descent, from working to upper-middle class, and frequently first generation Americans–flocked to the Borscht Belt, where they enjoyed mainstream American leisure activities and entertainment in a place where they knew they’d be welcomed as Jews. Many people also came to the Borscht Belt to work–as waiters, owners, chefs, musicians, comics, and busboys. Not only did many students earn money for college by working summers in the Borscht Belt resorts, but many nationally known entertainers, especially comedians, got their start there. The Jewish culture that flourished in the Borscht Belt gradually overflowed into the mainstream, where it significantly influenced American popular culture.
Continue reading →